Nigerian writers mourn Buchi Emecheta

Many Nigerian writers resident at home and in the Diaspora are yet to recover from the shock of the death of renowned novelist, Buchi Emecheta, who passed away last Thursday in the United Kingdom at the age of 72.

Since the sad event occurred, members of the literary community have been in deep mourning. Some of them, who spoke with our correspondents paid glowing tribute to the literary icon.

Nigerian writer and author of the award-winning novel, On Black Sisters Street, Chika Unigwe, recalled meeting with Emecheta in London some years ago, alongside other writers shortlisted for the Caine Prize for African Writing and how their conversation turned to the ‘whys of our writing.’

The novelist who writes in English and Dutch noted that a journalist had asked if authors wrote for the love of writing or for money, adding that all the writers said they do so for the love of writing.

Unigwe said, “Buchi gave us an earful: You don’t hear journalists say they do their jobs for the love of it. There is nothing wrong with making money from writing! It’s a job like any other.”

Unigwe also recalled that Emecheta taught her the valuable lesson that pursuing one’s passion and making money from it are not mutually exclusive.

Another Nigerian novelist living in the United States, Prof. Okey Ndibe, mourned the passage of Emecheta on his facebook page describing her as a visionary writer.

He wrote, “In her quiet but significant way, Buchi Emecheta was a visionary writer, an irrepressible spirit and a creative pioneer. I had the fortune of sharing the stage with her in London in 2000, shortly after the publication of my first novel. Now she has taken her art to heaven’s gate.’’

US-based Nigerian-American writer and lecturer, Prof. Nnedi Okorafor, described the late novelist as one of the most influential writers for her.

The author of Zahrah the Windseeker, said that she discovered Emecheta in the Michigan State University library’s African literature section.

She said, “I was a journalism post-graduate student at the time and I was on my way to find something else when I saw this wall of literature. I borrowed and read her books one by one. I consumed them with wide eyes.

“Buchi Emecheta’s prose was clear, blunt and unapologetic. Her endings weren’t always happy. Some were downright depressing, but they were real. Always real. By the time I finished reading her books, I was so angry and outraged, but also energised and clear headed. She was the voice of African women, specifically Nigerian women, in Nigeria and abroad.

“Emecheta was telling the type of stories that I only heard whispered by the women around me. For me, a Nigerian-American, she was explaining and giving context to so much about my own culture. She wrote about women maintaining, losing and changing their identities. She wrote about the troubles of patriarchy. She wrote deeply about motherhood. She also was the first to write a female perspective to the Biafran Civil War, not Chimamanda Adichie. The book was titled, Destination Biafra and I loved it.’’

Noting that Emecheta wrote her own truth about what she had seen and dealt with spilling it into the pages like blood, Okoroafor continued, “She didn’t write despite motherhood; she wrote because of motherhood. That was a lesson I would use later in life. It is the kind of lesson that many female writers need to hear. I write science fiction, fantasy and magical realism but I was very deeply influenced by her clear and honest way of writing about Nigerian culture and the plight of African women. My own stories are infused with this narrative, as well. Buchi’s writing taught me how to tell our stories, how to write out pain while carrying hope in your heart.’’

Describing the deceased as one of the founders of modern African literary feminism, Canada-based poet, Dr. Amatoritsero Ede, noted that her passage signaled a change of the guards from her “pioneering vision to a new generation of continental and migrant female African writers” that will continue in her footsteps.

Also, eulogising Emecheta for her contributions to literary excellence in the country, poet and playwright, Uzor Maxim Uzoatu, said, “In my book, Buchi Emecheta never got the high pedestal she deserved. She wrote with her blood in championing the cause of womanhood. Here works can be read as the raw grist of her autobiography.

“For her, fiction and life stood as one. She was the undeterred Second-Class Citizen who bravely triumphed beyond being In The Ditch and thus justly celebrated The Joys Of Motherhood. Buchi Emecheta lived as a champion and died as a champion. Kudos excelsior to the champion of all women and humankind.”

The deceased, regarded as one of the influential African women writers, was a distinct writer who, though lived abroad, consistently connected with the Nigerian social realities. She creatively blended everyday issues with global situations in her writing.

Some of her works include In the Ditch, Second Class Citizen, The Bride Price, The Joys of Motherhood , Adah’s Story, Head Above Water and Gwendolen.

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